DIY Quail Cage 4.0

[mdees88]

I built this cage a couple years ago and never did a thread on it. It is 6ft wide x 10ft long x 4ft tall. It has a center divider and one divider on each side. This creates four 3ft x 5ft compartments. All of the dividers are removable so I can easily change the sizes based on my needs. I plan on mainly using it for grow out pens but I also plan on keeping bobwhites in it at some point so I wanted it to be big enough for them to stretch their wings a bit. Also during the breeding season I can have four 2.5ft x 3ft compartments for breeding pairs, and still have bigger enclosures on the other side if I need. The overall size is based on the wire I'm using and I built it so it will fit on my utility trailer in case I need to move it.

I built it with screws and I built each piece separate. So basically I built the floor first, then attached it to the legs and leveled the legs. I built the floor on a slope so the eggs can roll out if I end up keeping egg layers, really could've been fine with a flat floor.

Then I added the 2x4 that the eggs will roll under and a 2x4 above that one which the doors will fit between.

Then I built the two end side panels and attached them.

Then I stapled the wire above the doors from inside the cage and added all the doors (4 doors on each side).

Here's some quail in it not too long after I built it.

I stapled the wire floor by myself so I didn't get it very tight. The weight of my feeders and 1 gallon waterers sitting on the unsupported wires caused the floors to sag a little over time. I ended up never adding the egg catching trays like my other cages and all the eggs tend to settle towards the front in the low point of the wire floor and were easy to reach.

I used 1/2" hardware cloth for the floor and it worked pretty well for a while but I ended up having a few quail getting bumble foot. I also had a coon problem and lost a bunch of quail to him in less than a week. So I took a year off from the quail and I'm just now starting back up. I killed several coons but I'm going to run electric fence wires around all the legs of my cages this time.

I found a couple burrs in the old hardware cloth floor and decided to replace it with PVC coated 16ga 1/2" x 1" welded wire. This wire has a bigger opening which is nice because the poop from my biggest jumbos sometimes didn't fall through 1/2 x 1/2". Also the pvc coating is a very smooth which should be better for the quails feet. The wire is also thicker than hardware cloth and makes for a more solid floor. I had help this time and stretched it as best I could. Also, instead of letting the feeders and waterers sit on unsupported wire, I will be adding wooden supports under the feeders and waterers to keep the wire from sagging from the weight.

Here's the new floor I installed yesterday. I plan on rigging up an auto water system eventually. I will probably move 80 quail into here sometime this weekend.

Here's links to my other cages if you're checking out different designs. Each one I built is quite different....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/diy-quail-cage-1-0.1231344/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/diy-quail-cage-2-0.1231366/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/diy-quail-cage-3-0.1239392/
Thanks for checking it out....

 

[Ratchnick]

How Do you devide the cage into separate sections?

 

[mdees88]

I don't have a great picture of it but look at the last picture. In it you can see the divider. Basically I built a wooden frame out of 1x4s (like making a picture frame), stapled hardware cloth to it, then screwed it into the center divider and the 2x4 above the doors. I had to make the bottom at an angle because the floor is sloped. The divider is red and where I screwed it in place is blue.

 

[Ratchnick]

Do you take that in and out of the cage or it stays in place?

 

[mdees88]

I built them so they can be taken out, but so far I haven't removed any dividers. I still have four separate 3ft x 5ft compartments. So in about 10 minutes I can go from any combination of 6ft x 10ft, 3ft x 10ft, 3ft x 5ft, or 3ft x 2.5ft.

It's really not that necessary but I had the intention of keeping Bob whites in here at some point and I wanted to build this big enough so they would have just enough room to fly a tiny bit. So I tried to make this one as modular as I could....

 

[mdees88]

Got the auto watering system installed yesterday. I have a water hose that is always on and is connected to a 2 gallon bucket with a float valve inside. The float valve maintains a roughly 3 inch level in the bucket. The bottom of the bucket drains to two 10ft long 3/4" pvc pipes that have 12 chicken nipples installed in each pipe (6 nipples per 3x5ft compartment). I added a valve to the end of the pipe so I can drain them periodically.

Everything I read said you needed an 11/32 drill bit for the nipples but that is not correct for the screw in type nipples. You need a 23/64 bit and also a bolt that is roughly the same thread pitch as the nipples. After drilling the holes you need to ratchet the bolt into the PVC to create the threads. It is very difficult but you have to apply a lot of pressure to get the bolt started and you have to keep it very straight when you're starting it.You also need to add some T tape to the nipples so they do not leak. Like I said it's not very easy to get the bolt started (takes a lot of pressure) but this was the best way I found to do it so far.

So for my 80 quail I now have over a weeks supply of food and an unlimited supply of water. I check on them a couple times a day but I wanted a system where I could leave them unattended for a few days without having someone come feed and water them. This system should work well....

 

[Ratchnick]

Here is a better way then using a bolt. Most of the nipples are 1/8th pipe thread.

https://www.amazon.com/Century-Dril...pipe+tap&qid=1586288949&sprefix=1/8+pi&sr=8-5

Nice setup, i keep telling people that a good quail setup is auto feed, auto water, auto egg collection, auto cleaning, but nobody believes me!

 

[mdees88]

Here is a better way then using a bolt. Most of the nipples are 1/8th pipe thread.

https://www.amazon.com/Century-Drill-Tool-95201-Plug/dp/B004UUAMK4/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=1/8+pipe+tap&qid=1586288949&sprefix=1/8+pi&sr=8-5

Nice setup, i keep telling people that a good quail setup is auto feed, auto water, auto egg collection, auto cleaning, but nobody believes me!

I knew it wasn't a bolt thread but I found one that's very similar and worked (but not exactly right). I wasn't sure what the nipple thread was though. That will make life much easier. Just added it to my cart. Thanks